Justin Trudeau rose in the House of Commons late Tuesday to speak to the private members’ bill aimed at allowing Canadians to buy wine from another province without fear of fine or jail time.

He commended the bill’s sponsor, Dan Albas, the Conservative MP for Okanagan-Coquihalla, for bringing forward legislation that “has so completely brought everyone together.”

But Mr. Trudeau spoke too soon. The bill would have been sent to the Senate and likely passed into law, if the NDP had agreed to collapse debate and send it to a vote.

[np-related]

Mr. Albas thought he had a deal to do just that because members from all sides of the House were enthusiastic about amending the Prohibition-era Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act that bans wineries across the country from sending their product to another province.

But six NDP MPs were so enthusiastic about their support for the bill, they used up all the available time in an apparent filibuster and Mr. Albas will now have to wait until the fall before he gets a second hour of debate and the chance to go to a vote.

An NDP spokesman said it was an honest mistake. Really? How absent-minded of them. Perhaps they should eat more oily fish.

‘‘This is the stuff that turns most Canadians off politics. It was completely uncalled for,” said Mr. Albas. “I’m disappointed the NDP used petty procedural games, rather than supporting the B.C. and Canadian wine industry.”

Brian Sprout/Tourism Kelowna/Files

He specifically warned the NDP that the bill had to come to a vote within the hour or fall to the bottom of the order of precedence and not be heard of again until the fall.

But that did not faze B.C. NDP MP Kennedy Stewart, who regaled the House with his love for wine “which I enjoy with my wife, Jeanette”; recalled his recent visit back to Nova Scotia for his mother’s birthday, where he imbibed a delicate Annapolis Valley sipper; and indulged himself in reminiscences of his time driving a truck for a brewing company. Not only did he ruin the surprise for those of us eagerly awaiting his memoirs, he sucked up 10 minutes that could have been used for voting.

Could it be that there was an element of tit-for-tat, linked to the omnibus budget bill currently gunging up the House? Certainly, that was the impression of James Moore, the Heritage Minister, who tweeted: “Cynical games. NDP didn’t want Tory success before summer.”

The NDP claims there was no “official” deal with their House leader, Nathan Cullen, and that they remain open to getting the bill through the House.

But Mr. Albas said he is suspicious of NDP expressions of support the day after they filibustered his bill. Unless he can find another MP with a private members’ bill prepared to swap an hour of debate time in the House, bill C311 is unlikely to pass before MPs go home next month.

‘This is the stuff that turns most Canadians off politics. It was completely uncalled for’

The end result is that Canadians heading to wineries in the Okanagan or Niagara region this summer will still not be able to order a case of their favourite vino, if delivery is to another province. Yet those same wineries will able to take orders from tourists in Japan and Hong Kong.

The bill is opposed by provincial liquor boards, which see it as providing competition to their monopolies and eating into revenues that in Ontario top $1-billion a year. This alone should be enough to commend it and grant it swift passage. The potential for e-commerce is such that wineries such as Painted Rock in the Okanagan are spending thousands upgrading their websites, in anticipation of a brave new world in the inter-provincial wine trade.

There are already chinks in the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act.

Ontario recently allowed a personal exemption of nine litres of wine for personal consumption. If Mr. Albas’ bill passes, the province will have to decide whether to amend its law or simply ignore its own regulation, since it is seems clear that under section 21 of the Constitution Act inter-provincial trade is a federal jurisdiction. But that all depends on the Albas bill passing into law.

Back in the House, Mr. Trudeau admitted he broke the law when he took a bottle of Nova Scotia wine from the Muir Murray Winery home to Quebec. As Mr. Albas pointed out, the penalty for this gross violation can range from a $200 fine to imprisonment.

To end this absurd and archaic state of affairs, the NDP will have to shut its collective cake-hole long enough to allow the matter to come to a vote.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.